Conventional squirting toys include a housing having a nozzle at its squirting end and a piston adapted to slide within the housing so that, when the nozzle end of the housing is submerged in a body of water, such as a pool, and the piston is pulled backwards, water is drawn into the housing through the nozzle. When the piston is subsequently forced forward, the water is forced from the housing through the nozzle in a powerful stream. Examples of such squirting toys are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,281,642; 7,571,837; 7,775,849; 8,123,077 and 7,913,880, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. The squirting toys described in those patents in particular are shaped so as to resemble a “swimming noodle”.
Squirting toys such as those described above may be displayed for sale by hanging the squirting toys from a peg shelf. In order to save space and provide an attractive display appearance, it is important to prevent the housing of the squirting toy from falling down and separating from the handle portion while the squirting toy is hanging. This issue has been addressed by taping, plugging or otherwise temporarily blocking the nozzle opening. However, this is an awkward solution that requires an additional packaging step beyond just adding a tag or packaging label to the squirt toy. Further, it may be difficult to adhere the tape to the nozzle so as to block the nozzle opening, particularly in the case of a complex nozzle design.